Does making mistakes frustrate you?

Do you let one mistake ruin your net session?

Are you a perfectionist?

If you answered YES to any of the above questions or you’re a young, aspiring cricketer who sets high standards of yourself, please read this post.

If you enter a net session and expect to be perfect and not make mistakes, you are setting yourself up for failure.

One of the most common things I see that holds people back is the inability to move on from a mistake.

I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a player’s whole session ruined after starting well, by one or a couple of mistakes.

When you set high standards then make a mistake, the initial reaction is often of disappointing & frustration. Dwelling on a mistake or beating yourself up means you’re focusing on the past which holds you back from executing your skills in the present moment.

You cannot change the past.

You can only control the present moment.

Nobody is perfect! Even the world’s best make mistakes. They are consistent and make fewer mistakes than amateurs, but they still make mistakes (having worked with some of the world’s best players, I’ve seen first hand how quickly they move on from making a mistake. It’s no big deal).

Take a look at this video from Head Mentor, Tom Scollay on making mistakes…

It’s even more important to remember this when you’re learning a new skill or trying to do something you’re not already good at.

When learning a new skill you have to be patient!

Even if you’re proficient in an area of your game e.g. driving, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be proficient in other areas of your game e.g. playing off the back foot.

[Note: So many young batters are decent front foot players because that’s all they do in Junior cricket. They get frustrated when they aren’t so good off the backfoot, yet they haven’t practiced it much so they obviously aren’t going to be as good.]

When you’re learning a new skill, you have to be patient & embrace mistakes. Don’t judge yourself. Be kind to yourself & celebrate the small wins & any progress.